The Meers Fault is an unusual active fault in southwestern Oklahoma, cutting across the Wichita Mountains region for about 26 kilometres of clearly expressed surface scarp. Its motion is a mix of left-lateral strike-slip and vertical offset, and it is remarkable for lying far from any plate boundary, deep within the stable interior of the North American continent.
What makes the Meers Fault scientifically important is that its scarp is fresh and plainly visible at the surface — a rarity in the mid-continent, where most faults are buried and quiet. This visibility has made it a natural laboratory for studying how large earthquakes can strike unexpectedly in so-called stable continental regions.
Paleoseismic studies show the fault produced at least one very large prehistoric earthquake, likely around magnitude 7, roughly 1,100 to 1,300 years ago, with an earlier event thousands of years before that. Although it has been quiet in recorded history, its evidence of rare but powerful ruptures makes it a key reference for seismic hazard in the central United States.